Глава 21

1–14. The appearance of the risen Christ on the Sea of ​​Tiberias. – 15–23. Wonderful fishing and lunch by the sea. Prediction of the fate of Peter and John. – 24–25. Second conclusion to the Gospel. John 21:1. After this, Jesus again appeared to His disciples at the Sea of ​​Tiberias. He appeared like this: “After that”, i.e. after the events described in Chapter 20. “Jesus appeared again...”. As can be seen from verse 14, this phenomenon was already the third in a series of phenomena that happened to the disciples. The first took place on the first day after the resurrection, the second on the eighth (John 20:19, 26). “By the Sea of ​​Tiberias” - see comments on John 6:1. John 21:2. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples. In total, there were seven disciples of Christ at the sea at that time: five apostles, who are named by name (however, John, according to his custom, calls himself and his brother James only by patronymic), and two others, perhaps not even from among the apostles. John 21:3. Simon Peter says to them: I am going to fish. They say to him: you and I are going too. They went and immediately got into the boat, and did not catch anything that night. The apostles apparently returned to their previous occupations, since they had not yet received final authorization to preach the Gospel. Peter - apparently in the evening - goes to the sea to fish, and six other disciples join him. As can be seen from the following story, they all fit in one boat, having one network. John 21:4. And when morning had already come, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. After spending the whole night at sea and not catching anything, the disciples saw in the early morning that someone was standing on the shore. It was Jesus, whom the disciples did not recognize due to the great distance. John 21:5. Jesus says to them: children! do you have any food? They answered Him: no. The Lord turned to the disciples when they began to swim to the shore, asking if they had anything edible, meaning, of course, that they had caught some fish. The disciples, probably busy assembling the net, did not look at the questioner and briefly answered his question in the negative. John 21:6. He said to them: cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will catch it. They cast, and could no longer pull out the nets from the multitude of fish. The Lord then gives them advice to cast the net again and precisely on the right side of the boat - then they will catch. Believing that a man experienced in fishing is standing in front of them, the disciples follow his advice and capture a huge amount of fish with a net. John 21:7. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “This is the Lord.” Simon Peter, hearing that it was the Lord, girded himself with clothing - for he was naked - and threw himself into the sea. John 21:8. And other disciples sailed in a boat - for they were not far from the land, about two hundred cubits - dragging a net with fish. Seeing the unusually quick fulfillment of the stranger’s words, John was the first to recognize in this stranger the Lord who had appeared again. Moreover, another similar incident could come to his mind (Luke 5:1-11). But while John himself stayed with the other disciples to help them cope with such a rich catch, Peter, always impetuous in his love for Christ, gets out of the boat to quickly swim to the shore and come to Jesus. Since he was fishing in only a shirt, then, out of respect for the Lord, he put on something like a short blouse, which was worn by Syrian and Phoenician fishermen (Blessed Theophylact) and tightly girded himself with a belt (he was called naked precisely because he was wearing only a shirt or tunic). “200 cubits” – about the cubit, see comments on Matthew 6:27. John 21:9. When they came to the ground, they saw a fire laid out and fish and bread lying on it. John 21:10. Jesus says to them: Bring the fish that you have now caught. John 21:11. Simon Peter went and brought down to the ground a net filled with large fish, of which there were one hundred and fifty-three; and with such a multitude the network did not break through. The Evangelist does not say that Peter, who hurried to Jesus, began some kind of conversation with Him. Perhaps he himself did not dare to turn to Christ with any question and waited, standing by the water, for the other apostles to arrive. The Lord did not start a conversation with Him. When all the other disciples came ashore, they saw that fish was already being fried on the fire, and bread was lying near the fire. Christ, however, demands that they bring the fish they caught. Then Peter, as the chief fisherman (cf. verse 3), “went”, or, more precisely, ascended, climbed higher to the shore (ἀνέβη); he stood at the very water, as if embarrassed to approach the place where Christ stood, and pulled out a net, which his comrades brought to the very shore. John noticed that the apostles counted 153 fish in the net - this was obviously an extraordinary catch. In addition, John was especially surprised by the fact that the net did not break due to such great weight. John 21:12. Jesus says to them: Come, have dinner. None of the disciples dared to ask Him: Who are you?, knowing that it was the Lord. John 21:13. Jesus comes, takes the bread and gives them fish as well. John 21:14. This was the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead. Reverent fear did not allow the disciples to begin a conversation with Christ themselves when He invited them to dinner. The Lord did not say anything to the disciples about the purpose of His appearance, but even without much explanation they should have understood the meaning of everything that happened. The miraculous catch of fish foreshadowed the success they would have in winning human souls to Christ, if only they followed Christ’s instructions in everything. The dinner to which Christ invited them signified, firstly, the restoration of close friendly relations between them and Christ, and secondly, it served as a guarantee that while they were busy preaching, the Lord would take care of satisfying their earthly needs. John 21:15. While they were having dinner, Jesus said to Simon Peter: Simon the Jonah! Do you love Me more than they? Peter says to Him: Yes, Lord! You know that I love You. Jesus says to him: Feed my lambs. In addition to this general goal, the present phenomenon also had a private goal: the restoration of the apostolic rights of the Apostle Peter, who denied Christ. At the end of dinner (more precisely from Greek, when they had breakfast - ἠρίστησαν) the Lord asks Peter if he loves Him more than others. Of course, Christ asks this for the purpose of reminding Peter of his previous declaration of his love for Christ (John 13:37). And the threefold repetition of the same question was supposed to remind Peter of his threefold denial of Christ. It is very likely that the fire near which he now stood should have brought back to his memory the fire near which he warmed himself at night in the courtyard of the high priest. Peter's answer shows how humble he is: he no longer talks about his selfless devotion to Christ, but only gives an affirmative answer to Christ's question. Moreover, he humbly declares that his love for Christ is not what Christ would like to see on his part. Christ asks him if he loves Him with love, which is based on conviction of the high virtues of the beloved person, which is a matter of the will of a person (this is the meaning of the verb used here by Christ ἀγαπᾶν). Peter, in his answer, speaks only about his friendly heartfelt disposition towards Christ (in this sense he uses the verb φιλεῖν, cf. John 11:3). However, the Lord accepts this confession of Peter and entrusts him with feeding His lambs. This does not give Peter any special powers that would set him apart from the other apostles. No, here he is only being restored to his dignity, which he lost along with renunciation. The Lord entrusts him, like the other apostles, with the care of the believers. It should be noted that the Lord calls believers here lambs or lambs in order to show how they need self-care from the apostles, and this care itself is designated as feeding, nutrition (βόσκε ἀρνία μου). John 21:16. Another time he says to him: Simon the Jonah! do you love me? Peter says to Him: Yes, Lord! You know that I love You. Jesus says to him: Feed My sheep. The Lord, obviously, some time later again turns to Peter with the same question, omitting only the expression “greater than these.” He seems to want to ask Peter whether he has at least the love that all His disciples should have for Christ (here the verb ἀγαπᾶν is used again). But Peter did not attach importance to the true meaning of Christ’s question and gives the answer in exactly the same terms as in the first case. The Lord again says nothing to Peter about the certain insufficiency of his answer and now instructs him to shepherd, or, more precisely, to manage His sheep, i.e. the whole flock of Christ (cf. John 10:3–27), without distinction of age and strength of the animals that make up the flock (ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου). John 21:17. He says to him for the third time: Simon the Jonah! do you love me? Peter was saddened that he asked him for the third time: Do you love Me? and said to Him: Lord! You know everything; You know that I love You. Jesus says to him: Feed My sheep. Asking Peter for the third time, the Lord used the same verb to denote the concept of love that Peter had just used (φιλεῖν). By this, the Lord cast doubt on the friendly disposition that Peter, by his own admission, had. This greatly upset Peter, and his grief was expressed in the fact that he gave a different form to his answer. He omits the particle of the statement “so” and no longer speaks of his love as a completely clear matter that Christ should know about, but expresses only the confidence that Christ, as an omniscient God, penetrates into his heart and finds there not only weaknesses, but at the same time sincere love for Him. After this sorrowful and humble confession of Peter, the Lord for the third time instructs him to take care of feeding His “sheep,” or, more precisely, “lambs” (βόσκε προβάτια), by which He means the weakest believers. Peter himself felt how difficult the situation was for those who were weak in character - not in faith, because in his renunciation Peter did not show weakness of faith, but precisely insufficient strength of character, and therefore it was to him that the Lord entrusted him with strengthening and comforting those people whom he himself had previously resembled. John 21:18. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and went where you wanted; and when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not want to go. John 21:19. He said this, making it clear by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And having said this, he said to him: follow me. After restoring Peter to his apostolic dignity, Christ predicts Peter's martyrdom. Just as a decrepit old man can no longer dress himself and walk at will, but must resort to the help of others and go with them even where he would not like to go, so the time will come when the Apostle Peter, alive and accustomed to acting at his own will, will have to go where his enemies lead him, i.e. to martyrdom. By this death Peter will glorify God, i.e. will help increase the number of true children of God - believers in Christ. One can even believe that in the depiction of Peter being bound and being led where he would not like to go, the picture is given of the crucifixion of Peter on the cross. Tertullian said: “Then Peter is girded with another when he is tied to the cross (see Scorp. 15). Finally, reminding Peter of his promise to die for Christ (John 13:37), Christ invites Peter to follow Him, that is, as can be seen from the context of the speech (cf. verses 22-23), to prepare to suffer in the same way as Christ suffered. John 21:20. Peter, turning, sees the disciple following him, whom Jesus loved and who at the supper, bowing to His chest, said: Lord! who will betray you? John 21:21. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus: Lord! what about him? John 21:22. Jesus says to him: If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? you follow Me. John 21:23. And this word spread between the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but: if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Together with Peter, the Lord began to move away from the place where the dinner was taking place. Peter, probably hearing someone's steps behind him, turned back and saw John walking behind him. Knowing that John was especially loved by the Lord, he naturally wanted to know what fate awaited this beloved disciple of Christ. He considered dying for Christ a distinction for himself and asked Christ in surprise whether His beloved disciple would not be worthy of this distinction? Peter spoke this way, obviously, out of a feeling of special affection for John, with whom he was especially close, as can be seen, for example, from the fact that on the morning of the Resurrection they were together and the two of them hurried to the tomb of Christ. To Peter’s question, the Lord answers him that he has nothing to worry about John: he himself must first of all follow Christ, and as for John, if he had remained alive even until the second coming of Christ, then this has nothing to do with the fate of the Apostle Peter - he must follow the path shown to him. These words of the Lord about John, as the evangelist himself notes, were given to the brothers, i.e. Christians (cf. Phil. 1:14) are a reason to say that John will not die. These assumptions are explained by the fact that the first Christians believed that the coming of the Lord was near and that some of them would live to see this time (see 1 Thess. 4:17; James 5: 7–8). Especially the fact that Peter actually died the death that the Lord predicted for him, and John continued his activities for about two decades after Peter’s death, should have further strengthened Christians in the correctness of the assumption. That is why John establishes exactly the meaning of the words that the Lord said in relation to him. It is impossible not to notice here that this addition to the Gospel clearly shows that John was alive at the time when this addition appeared and that he himself made the latter. In fact, would there be any need to clarify the true meaning of Christ’s words if John had already died? Then it would be enough, in contrast to any fiction about his fate, to point to the place where he was buried. John 21:24. This disciple testifies to this and wrote this; and we know that his testimony is true. John 21:25. Jesus did many other things; but if we were to write about it in detail, then I think the world itself would not be able to accommodate the books written. Amen. These verses may be considered, first, as a conclusion to the 21st chapter alone. In this case, they will primarily assert the truth of what is said about the fate of Peter and John. Secondly, here one can see the conclusion to the entire Gospel, and such an opinion seems more correct, since verse 25 obviously refers not to one small addition to the Gospel contained in the 21st chapter, but to the entire Gospel of John. So, in this conclusion - second in line - “this student”, i.e. John himself says that he is a witness to the truth of everything said in the Gospel, that he himself wrote it, and then those people who surrounded John (“we know”) add their own testimony, i.e., probably some apostles and other eyewitnesses of the events described in the Gospel of John. The last remark of the evangelist, that the whole world could not contain books that would contain everything that the apostles knew about Christ, must, of course, be understood as a hyperbolic expression. You might be interested in: